Sodium hydride → 1-(8-methoxy-2-methyl-3,4-dihydro-1H-pyrido[4,3-b]indol-5(2H)-yl)-2-(pyridin-4-yl)propan-2-ol

A flask was charged with 8-methoxy-2-methyl-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole (1.5 g, 6.9 mmol) in DMF (15 mL) and stirred for 5 min. To this was added NaH (60% in hexane) (828 mg, 20 mmol) and the mixture stirred at RT for 10 min. 4-(2-Methyloxiran-2-yl)pyridine (1.89 g, 13.8 mmol) was added and the mixture stirred at RT for 16 h. The progress of reaction was monitored by TLC. The reaction mixture was poured into ice water and filtered. The filtrate was washed with water and concentrated. The residue was recrystallized from ether to get pure product. 1H NMR (DMSO-d6, di-HCl salt) δ (ppm): 8.75 (m, 2H), 8.0 (dd, 2H), 7.30 (d, 1H), 6.90 (s, 1H), 6.60 (t, 1H), 6.10 (bs, 1H), 4.50 (m, 1H), 4.30 (m, 2H), 4.18 (m, 1H), 3.80 (s, 3H), 3.60 (m, 2H), 3.25 (m, 1H), 2.10 (m, 1H), 2.95 (s, 3H), 1.60 (s, 3H).